Merry Farmer with Wednesday Wonders!

I am so sorry Merry. I have been running behind schedule it seems all week.

Thank you so much for waiting and Welcome to our Wednesday Wonders!

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful day today.

And a Very Happy 4th of July!

Well, I won’t keep you waiting any longer.

I know you have some wonderful things to share with us today.

1. Many people don’t like the name they were given at birth. Do you like your given name? If not, what would you rather have been named?

Well, the name on my birth certificate is Meredith Farmer, but from day one everyone called me Merry. The family urban legend behind that is that my parents wanted to name me Merry straight out, but because I was the first granddaughter, my Mom’s mom said “under no circumstances will you name my granddaughter a name that is not a real name.” I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I do like my name. I try to live up to it. Especially since my blood type is B positive.

2. Do you write under your given name or a pseudonym?

I write under the name Merry Farmer. But I have a few ideas for erotica novels, and if I ever write those then I’ll use a pseudonym.

3. Is there a routine you go through before you begin writing?

Not exactly, but since I write in the evening on weeknights I generally eat dinner first. On the weekends I write in the morning, so there is coffee involved. Hmm. There might be a food connection there after all!

4. Is there anyone you admire?

As far as writers, definitely J.K. Rowling. I admire her style, the world she’s created, how she never gave up, and the fact that she inspired millions of children around the world to read. And I’m also a big fan of Romance writer Elizabeth Boyle. She’s a best-selling author, and yet she’s also a mother and a really nice person who interacts with her readers.

5. What do you like to read?

I tend to read a lot of Romance, both because I love it and because I consider it “homework” for my own writing. I’ve been trying to read more self-published books as well. Self-publishing is the future!

6. Do you have a favorite author?

I mentioned J.K. Rowling and Elizabeth Boyle, but I also love Jane Austen (of course) and Romance writers Elizabeth Hoyt and Lisa Kleypas.

7. Does it have to be quiet when you write or do you like background noise? TV, music, etc.

I always listen to music when I write. Pandora is a wonderful thing! But what I listen to doesn’t always have to coincide with the themes I’m writing about. I found this Yoga Radio station on Pandora that is very smooth and chilled that seems to keep me focused, even when I’m writing a battle scene.

8. Beach or mountains?

This is a tough one. I would say mountains, but really I like rocky New England beaches. I can’t stand sand or the tropics though.

9. What inspires you?

Love inspires me. And love takes on so many forms. Romantic love, of course, but more often it’s the caring that one friend shows another or even the kindness of strangers. If we all approached the world with love, honored love, and didn’t fuss so much about controlling what and who people love, this would be a beautiful world!

10. Favorite snack food?

I’m going to say homemade guacamole and chips right now just because that’s what I’m eating.

11. Doesn’t matter who we are, man, woman, child, all of us get freaked out by something. Spiders, mice, snakes, bugs, geese, etc. What freaks you out?

Bees of the wasp/hornet/yellow-jacket variety. Not so much honey bees (although you should check out something near the end of my book The Faithful Heart if you want to see some seriously scary honey bee action!)

12. What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

I spent two summers working as an actor at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. Three days a week for eleven hours at a stretch over 16 weeks running around pretending I was an Elizabethan peasant. It was SO much fun! They gave us extensive classes in Elizabethan English and manners before the season started. I think that’s part of what inspired my love of Medieval history. It also made Shakespeare much easier to read.

13. I read on another blog, that a writer was working on 10 novels at once. Confusing! Do you work on one or multiple novels at a time?

I try very hard not to work on more than one novel at a time. If I do that I feel like I’m not giving my full attention to my baby. But once I’ve finished drafting a novel I have to let it sit for a month or two or more before I regain perspective on where it needs edits. So I either start writing the next one or go back and revise something else during that time. I guess I work on multiple novels in cycles.

14. What do you like to do when you are not writing?

I’m a major cricket fan! Yes, in the USA. I am a member of a local cricket club, British Officers Cricket Club, and I am their official scorer. I’m taking a correspondence course from England to be certified as an international level cricket scorer. I am also a knitter, particularly socks.

15. And last question…Do you have anything new coming out that you’d like to share with us?

I just published my third novel, Our Little Secrets. It’s the first in a new series that takes place in Montana in 1895. This one is a lot steamier than my two previous Medieval romances, which is a lot of fun. I wanted to write a western that was about the other people in town, not the cowboys or gunslingers. The hero of Our Little Secrets is actually the town shopkeeper. Although he’s not exactly the stoic, respectable businessman everyone in town thinks he is. The next thing I’ll be working on is the third and final book of my Medieval trilogy, The Courageous Heart.